Getting a Cuba tourist card

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I am a British citizen and my wife is a PR of Canada who holds Iranian Nationality and Passport. We are flying from Toronto to Cuba, do we need to obtain the TC from Cuban embassy? I have bought our tickets and hotel separately and online, no agency.

As mentioned above the Tourist Card is a complete non-brainer when departing from Canada. It MUST be supplied to you by your Airline, Tour Operator, Travel Agent, etc. so it's a complete non-issue, no need to deal with the Embassy.

Hi Terry, we are planing to flight to Cuba via Nassau from Miami(spend 2 or 3 days in Nassau) anf fly out from Havana to Mexico City. Getting the visa in the UK is very expensive. Can I buy the ticket in Nassau airport or the cuban embassy in Nassau town center? how long does it take? how much is it? we will be flying with Bahamassair but I can not see any information on their website regarding the visa. Thanks a lot for your help.

As mentioned repeatedly throughout this thread unlike departing from the UK or Europe the Cuban Tourist Card is a simple issue when departing from North/Central/South America and the Caribbean.

You will always either be given the Tourist Card as part of your ticket or be afforded the opportunity to purchase the Tourist Card right at the airport when you're departing from in Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Grand Cayman, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Panama, etc.

Everyone on your flight in Nassau will be purchasing the TC right at check-in. No one can board the aircraft with it.

Hi Terry, I am a USA citizen but currently living in Netherlands for 3 years, I want to visit Cuba taking flights directly from Amsterdam and then from Havana travel back to USA for a short stay of 7 days with my parents. I read a lot of things about visa, however still no clue what exactly meant for &quot;illegal traveling to Cuba for USA citizens&quot; do you maybe know any risks? Thank you very much!

I'm an Australian flying to Cuba Via Gatwick airport with Virgin Atlantic.You can get a visa for cuba at their info desk without any problems at all.All you need is your passport give them the money and they give you the visa was so simple and quick. Have fun Storm

My husband and I are from Estonia, living permanently in UK. We are going to Colombia and then Cuba. We know that with Estonian passports we don't need a visa to Colombia, however we do need a tourist card going to Cuba. We will be flying to Havana from Bogota. Do you know if we can get a TC in Botoga airport or already in Havana airport? A bit confused what we can do. One of the tour operators are charging around £80 to process TC, which is a rip-off.

As mentioned repeatedly throughout this thread unlike departing from the UK or Europe the Cuban Tourist Card is a simple issue when departing from North/Central/South America and the Caribbean.

You will always either be given the Tourist Card as part of your ticket or be afforded the opportunity to purchase the Tourist Card right at the airport when you're departing from Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Grand Cayman, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, etc.

Everyone on your flight will be purchasing the TC right at check-in. No one can board the aircraft with it.

Managed to get the travel card sorted today at the Cuban Embassy in London. £15 for everything and no documents were needed apart from the passport and copy of the passport. Hopefully this would help the others who reside in London and try getting the TC sorted. Tourist companies charge ridiculous money for it.

Terry haven't read your comment and your information forum, I will like to asked if a Nigeria passport holder that possess the airport transit for france and connecting to havana and heading to jamaica, will he/she need a tourist card ( Cuba) and if so what cost and who are the agency which can issue this TC. Bear in my mind he/she has the visa for the final destination.

Hi, i'm indonesian and i'm in Montreal right now for multiple entry visa and i want go to cuba or domnican republic for a week...i wonder if i can get visa on arrival in cuba or domincan republic airport ?

I have read all the postings aboutAustralians obtaining a tourist card for Cuba but none seem to precisely covermy situation. My wife and I are going on a Caribbean cruise with NobleCaledonia (“Island Hopping in The Caribbean’) from 19 March to 2 April 2014.The cruise begins in Georgetown, Cayman Islands and the first 3 ports areCienfuegos, Trinidad and Santiago de Cuba in Cuba.

We are flying to Cayman Islandsfrom Miami. Noble Caledonia states that we need tourist cards for Cuba andDominican Republic and that they will send information on how to obtainapproximately 12 weeks before departure and to not try to obtain in themeantime. However as we will probably be the only Australians on the cruise andall the rest will be Brits, they will probably have a special arrangement forthem but not for us.

What do you recommend I do, Terry or anyone else who canadvise?

One possible option would be to obtain themat the airport at Georgetown, Grand Cayman but will that be possible if we arenot taking a flight to Cuba? Also is the relevant desk likely to be openbetween 7.35 pm on March 18 (when we fly in) and about 3 pm on March 19 (whenthe boat disembarks).

If this idea won’t work what else can anyone suggest?

I have read somewhere that tourist cardsare valid for 180 days from obtaining and 30 days from first use. Do you knowif this is definitely the case?

With regard to Dominican Republic do youknow whether we can obtain tourist cards on arrival at the port of PuertoPlata?

First of all, Noble Caledonia should be ashamed of themselves. What's with the dumb statement,"... they will send information on how to obtain approximately 12 weeks before departure and to not try to obtain in the meantime...?!?!" What a ridiculous excuse for Customer Service. Are they going to supply the Tourist Card, or not? Why can't they simply be forthcoming?!

Personally I'd force them to $hit or get off the pot right now. You can't sign up for their cruise and not know anything about the Tourist Card until 3 months before departure. There shouldn't be a mystery here, they're either going to be a factor in obtaining one for their clients, or not, they have to be honest right now.

Please email them and let us (me) know their reply then you'll know what other avenues have to be pursued, if necessary.

I approached Noble Caledonia again as yousuggested and here is their reply:

*Unfortunately wecannot obtain information on visas until closer to departure. We do mentionthis to all passengers at confirmation stage in a factsheet, and furthermore wedo make all passengers aware that holders of other nationality passports shouldcheck with their nearest embassies for individual requirements.

Approximately 12 weeks prior to departure we will send out ‘Pre DepartureInformation’, leaving three months to apply and send off for relevantdocumentation.”

So it seems it is up to me to get the necessarytourist card or visas. As we live in the country it is not easy to access theCuban Embassy but we could be going to Canberra in October to visit our son andmaybe we could sort something out then. Do you know if we can do on the spot if we take our passports?

Perhaps we may have to end up getting a visa if they don’t issue Tourist cardsat the Embassy.

Failing this is there anything we can do through Cuban Consulatein Sydney? Am I correct in assuming the visa or tourist card are valid for 180days from obtaining and if we get in October they will then still be valid whenwe arrive in March?

The other option is to get Tourist Cards inCaymans before we embark (as mentioned in previous posting) but not knowingwhat we can achieve there this may be a little risky. We don’t want to go onthe cruise and find we can’t land at the first 3 ports.

What do yousuggest?

Also what should we do about Dominican Republic where we call at Puerto Plataon day 8?

It seems all the other ports: Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Turks andCaicos, Puerto Rico, British Virgin Isles, St Barthelemey, Nevis, Montserrat,Les Saintes (Guadeloupe), Antigua will not be a problem.

The problem with that that route is the Tourist Card is an expensive rip-off in Australia. The Embassy there are basically robbers, charging you a pile of money and a bunch of hassle for a simple $20 piece of paper that is SO easy to get from any departure point in the Western Hemisphere.

Before you go to the Embassy though try to get in touch with Cayman Airways, https://www.caymanairways.com/ If you can get it in writing that you can purchase a Tourist Card from their desk at the airport then that gives you another option.

Good luck.

Cheers,

Terry

Regarding the Dominican Republic, all you have to do is purchase a $10 Tourist Card upon arrival:

Thanks Terry. I will do as you say. It seems I should be able to get on the spot in Canberra but I guess I should take passports in case they want to see. I will let you know what I find out from Cayman Airways. At least Dominican Republic is easy and we can leave till we arrive.CheersPeter

Noble Caledonia's customer service is horrible. I hope they run the cruise better.

Lastly, not to get you worried... but sometimes the Tourist Cards have a date stamped on them and you have to use the TC within 90 days. I trust the ones that you paid (way too much) for at the Embassy will still be valid next March...

We're with NC from Nassau via Cuba to Belize in January so have just got the Pre-departure docs. They say we must arrange the card and recommend the Cuban Consulate by post for £15 pp plus £19 per household for postage. Also suggest CIBT at a cost of £64pp (£34 consular fee plus £30 service fee). Hope this helps Peter.

You should phone Air Europa right now and confirm one way or the other. In the past they didn't supply the card when departing from the UK, you had to buy it yourself. You do NOT want to show up at the airport with no Tourist Card...